In what soil to plant cucumbers. Rules for planting cucumbers in a greenhouse and open ground

Many summer residents without experience are wondering how to plant cucumbers, and what time of the year is best to do this. It is worth mentioning that there are two ways to grow this vegetable: seedling and seedless. In order to harvest good crops, you will need a greenhouse. You can make greenhouses with your own hands or buy ready-made ones in the store. There are a wide variety of designs available on the market these days.

Two landing methods

In addition to thinking about how to plant cucumbers, you probably had a question about the material for sowing. These are seeds of different varieties that you can buy in specialized stores or get yourself from your cucumbers. Seeds for seedlings need to be soaked before planting and wait until they germinate. Then planted in prepared containers with a mixture of earth, humus, peat. Plant no more than two seeds per pot. They grow on the window for about three weeks, after which they are transplanted into the ground (approximately in mid-May). And how to plant cucumbers without using seedlings? The first stage - the seeds are soaked. Then they wait until they swell or begin to germinate. After that, they are planted in the ground, the top layer of which is warmed up to thirteen to fifteen degrees. The depth of planting seeds is about 2 centimeters.

Soil and fertilizer

The soil should be loose, nutritious and retain moisture well. It is better to apply fertilizers for cucumbers directly into the planting holes or oblong holes, since these plants have a rather small one. To apply top dressing, a hole or an elongated trench 40 cm deep is dug. A layer of fertilizer mixed with the ground is laid out at the bottom of it, and soil without additives is poured on top, into which cucumbers are planted. Fertilizers during decomposition emit a large amount of heat, which has a beneficial effect on the growth and development of vegetables. The additive itself is a good top dressing for plants. In the future, it should be alternated with organic about every two weeks. If the plant has a bare root system, then you should immediately sprinkle it with humus.

Now about how to plant cucumbers in the right place, which should be well lit and protected from wind and bad weather as much as possible. When planting cucumbers in open soil, it is advisable to use tall plants (corn, sunflowers, etc.) as protection. To do this, they need to be sown in two rows around the planted cucumbers so that the southern side of the bed remains open. A suitable temperature for the growth of cucumbers is 23-30 degrees. If its level drops below 15 degrees, this can lead to a complete stop in the development of plants. Frosts are especially harmful to young plantings. If the temperature in your area is unstable, then it is better to cover the cucumbers with a film to protect them from the cold.

Increasing the efficiency of landings

How to plant cucumbers and care for them to increase their yield? Firstly, you need to loosen the top layer of soil after each watering (rain), but not deep so as not to damage the root. Secondly, to increase fertility, you can plant head lettuce bushes next to cucumbers. Be sure to water the vegetable regularly, but not with cold water, as this is a heat-loving plant.

Cucumber is a unique vegetable of its kind, a member of the pumpkin family, whose fruits are eaten in an unripe form. It is a monoecious, dioecious plant. Cucumber is characterized by the presence of male flowers with stamens and pollen and female flowers with a stigma on the same plant.

How to plant cucumbers. Choice of method and seeds

It is possible to grow cucumbers in open ground, as well as a method in which seedlings of cucumbers are planted at home. Both options give a good harvest.

The choice of how to plant cucumbers depends on personal preferences and the desired result. When choosing seeds, it must be borne in mind that vegetable seeds differ. Today there are hybrid and varietal seeds.

The main difference between hybrid and varietal seeds is yield, disease resistance, early maturity, etc. Most hybrid seeds are designed for vertical planting and comfortable conditions, which can be best provided in a greenhouse.

Naturally, all these indicators in hybrid plants are much higher, but they are more demanding than varietal plants. They need a significantly higher level of mineral nutrition, and also require protected ground.

Hybrid plants can show all the qualities inherent in them when planting in a greenhouse. Varietal seeds are more unpretentious, they can be safely planted in open ground. Unlike hybrid species, seeds of varietal cucumbers can be used for further cultivation.

Seedlings of cucumbers at home. Training Even novice gardeners know that in order to get a generous and most importantly early harvest, you need to grow seedlings in advance.

And since we cannot imagine a salad without this vegetable, growing cucumber seedlings at home is a rather urgent issue! Growing cucumbers has its own nuances, knowing them, you can always get an excellent harvest. In order to grow cucumber seedlings at home, it will take at least twenty days. Based on this, you can approximately, taking into account possible frosts, calculate for what period to prepare the seedlings. Before sowing the seeds, they must be sorted out.

In order to do this, you will need a five percent saline solution (you will need a teaspoon of salt per cup of water). The water temperature is not more than 22 degrees. Seeds of cucumbers before planting, it is desirable to prepare and harden.

By dipping the cucumber seeds into the salt solution, you will see how some of the seeds will sink to the bottom. These are the best seeds, the floating seeds can be safely thrown away - you will not get a harvest from them. Selected, healthy seeds must be immersed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour.

Then rinse the seeds under running clean water. These actions will save your seedlings from fungal disease. To harden the seeds, place them in the refrigerator for 36 hours. Right before planting, to activate germination, the seeds are soaked for 8 hours. You can germinate seeds for seedlings in the following ways. cotton wool, on top of the seeds must be covered with another layer of gauze.

Don't let it dry out and make sure the seeds don't float in the water. For the fastest shoots, the change is placed in a warm place. The most favorable temperature for seed germination is 30 degrees.

When germinating seeds in a room with a lower temperature, this process may be delayed. The second method is somewhat simpler. Sowing seeds is carried out immediately in pots.

This method has a significant drawback, you will not be able to determine whether all the seeds have sprouted. Seeds are considered germinated when they reach a height of 3-5 mm. Seedlings of cucumbers at home. Features of cultivation and care 1.

The root system of cucumbers is very weak, as a result of which it is highly undesirable to transplant them, since there is a risk of injury. To avoid this, cucumber seedlings at home should, if possible, be grown in peat-wood or peat-cardboard pots.

The huge advantage of these pots is that before planting the seedlings in the ground, they can be broken without damaging the root system. By growing seedlings of cucumbers in such pots, you will preserve their root system as much as possible. 2.

Glasses or another container prepared for seedlings must be filled with a substrate. You can buy a nutrient mixture for growing seedlings in a store, but making this mixture yourself is not a difficult task. To prepare such a mixture, you need to take one part of turf land, one part of sawdust, one part of humus and peat.3. The seed container is placed in a warm place, the temperature in which should not fall below 25 degrees, watering is carried out only with warm water (usually once a week).

To avoid evaporation of moisture, the cups must be covered with a transparent film; after the emergence of shoots, the shelter can be removed. Cucumbers are a heat-loving crop, seedlings at a temperature of 24-28 degrees can appear on days 4-6, at a temperature of 18 degrees after 10, below 10-15 degrees - their growth stops. 4.

In some cases, two sprouts may appear in one cup. After waiting a little time, remove the weakest by cutting off the sprout, if you try to pull out a weak sprout you can damage the roots of the neighboring one.

Provide light, lack of drafts, optimal temperature and top dressing of cucumber seedlings. 5. In order to avoid pulling seedlings, it is necessary to lower the temperature of the content to 20 degrees for two to three days.

It is also necessary to provide good lighting, in cloudy weather, use the backlight. Be sure to check that there are no drafts on the windowsill, cucumbers do not like them.6. During the active growth of seedlings, it is necessary to carry out top dressing.

It is best to use specially designed complex fertilizers. And also periodically add soil, for a more active growth of the root system.7.

When your bushes grow enough and have 2-3 dark green leaves, and the root system fills the entire volume of the cup, you can start planting seedlings in greenhouses or open ground.8. In order to adapt seedlings, it is necessary to increase frost resistance.

This procedure must begin at least a week before the intended disembarkation. The first step is to lower the room temperature to 16-18 degrees, after which you can take the seedlings into the open air.9.

It is important to protect the bushes from direct exposure to sunlight.10. Planting cucumbers in greenhouses takes place from 15 to 20 April. Planting seedlings for growing cucumbers in open ground is carried out from May 10 to May 15.

When planting in open ground, seedlings are covered with a film. Cultivation of cucumbers in open ground. Bed preparation Growing cucumbers in open ground is practiced in two ways. Depending on the method of planting, the beds are prepared.

The first way is horizontal planting of cucumbers. Cucumbers grown in this way creep along the ground with lashes. With this planting option, cucumbers are planted in rounded beds - holes. The beds should be located far enough from each other.

The second way is vertical landing. Cucumbers are planted in narrow, long beds. In the case of vertical planting, it is necessary to provide support for cucumbers, special ropes or nets along which the plant will weave.

It is necessary to provide sufficient illumination, especially if you are arranging several beds, make sure that they do not block the sun's rays from each other. The future place for cucumbers may well look like this - long narrow beds, around the perimeter of which you can stretch ropes to support and weave cucumbers.

The choice of how to plant cucumbers is, of course, your preference, but please note: today most of the hybrids are designed specifically for vertical planting. Whatever planting method you choose, planting cucumbers occurs only after thorough soil preparation. Soil preparation takes into account the characteristics of the root plant systems. Because the location of the root system of this culture is superficial, we prepare the ridge as follows: Chopped brushwood or coniferous spruce branches; Compost; Straw or sawdust; A small layer of manure, you can also use humus with the addition of ash; A twenty-centimeter layer of garden soil. As a result, you will get a kind of layer cake.

Do not worry, all the organic garbage that you brought to the garden will gradually rot. In the process of decay, it will release heat, which is so necessary to obtain a good harvest of cucumbers. A couple of days before planting, spill the bed with boiling water and cover with a film.

If time is running out for you, planting can be done immediately after watering, while the ground is hot. When choosing a place for a cucumber ridge or a greenhouse, do not forget that it is impossible to plant cucumbers immediately after other representatives of this family. Common pathogens for these species may remain in the ground.

It is preferable to plant cucumbers after potatoes and tomatoes, peas and beans, as well as after cabbage and radish. Another important event before planting cucumbers will be soil disinfection. Disinfecting the soil is very simple - for this you need to spill the bed with a solution of copper sulfate.

To prepare the solution, use 10 liters of water and 1 tbsp. l. copper sulfate. Cultivation of cucumbers in open ground. Seedless way of planting and caring for cucumbers You can plant cucumbers in open ground both by seeds and seedlings.

When planting seedlings, it is possible to get an earlier harvest. However, the seedling method of planting is quite troublesome, for busy people the seedless method is better suited. For planting cucumbers in open ground, it is necessary to prepare and reject seeds, as well as for seedlings. two centimeters (if your site has light soil, the holes can be made a little deeper, if the soil is heavy, shallower).

Up to five seeds are laid in one hole. At the time of planting, the soil should be moist. After planting cucumbers, the bed must be covered with a transparent film.

Remember that even small frosts can be fatal for cucumbers, so the place under them must be protected from the winds; it’s good if the bed is raised and warmed up. Cucumbers are planted at the end of May at the beginning of June. Also in the spring we will be planting onion sets.

Growing onions from seeds is not a complicated and interesting process, which can provide you with high-quality planting material for growing onions on your own. When the first leaves appear, cucumber seedlings are thinned out, as a rule, this will need to be done ten days after planting. Just like seedlings, seedlings cannot be pulled out.

Thin them out by pinching or cutting. After you have thinned the cucumbers, they need to be fed, top dressing is done with slurry, you can also use chicken manure.

The fertilizer that has fallen on the leaves must be washed off with clean water, otherwise the leaves will get burned. Further care for the cucumbers is carried out in the same way as for the seedlings that you planted in a permanent place in the garden. quite simple, it includes: 1. Weeding can be combined with loosening.2.

Watering is very important for cucumbers. If you let the soil dry out, the taste of cucumbers will deteriorate and they will become bitter. Therefore, control soil moisture especially in the driest period - July, August.

Mulching will help keep the soil moist, as well as suppress the growth of weeds. As mulch, you can use sawdust or grass cut from the lawn.3. Pinching is done after the appearance of 5-6 leaves.

This procedure is necessary to stimulate branching and the appearance of female flowers.4. To carry out a garter on the frame as the plants grow.5.

Top dressing of cucumbers should be carried out only in good weather, because. in cloudy cold weather, the growth of cucumbers slows down, and fertilizers will not do any good. It is important to feed during the flowering period, as well as during fruiting.

Cucumbers contain iodine and many trace elements, they are used in medical and dietary nutrition, therefore, they should definitely be grown. By following the advice on how to plant cucumbers in this article, you will always get an excellent harvest. What is a cucumber?

But the decision was made, so as not to confuse anyone, to assign the title of "vegetable." Cucumbers are 96% water and some carbohydrates, potassium, vitamins and micronutrients. Perfectly quenches thirst, is actively in demand for weight loss, loved by adults and children.

It has a very good effect on the skin of the face, as it contains vitamins PP, B and C, they nourish and moisturize natural beauty as much as possible. Cucumbers grow in every home garden. It is easy to plant cucumbers correctly, the main thing is to do everything as expected, without delaying over time and not rushing things. By following these rules and simple but useful tips, you will get a ripe and juicy harvest.

How to choose cucumber seeds

There are quite a few varieties of this product. Approximately 100 varieties or more. Each crop is unique in its own way and in each country the look changes.

There are long cucumbers up to 50 cm, round, oval, white, striped, bumpy and even with a reddish tint. But this is far from the whole range. For a home garden, it is better to take a hybrid variety of cucumbers, it is famous for its fruits, they are never few and the easiest to plant. Pay attention to the expiration date, cucumber seeds cannot be stored for more than 3 years and the crop gives only one year!

When to plant a seed

A vegetable should be planted in May, after 10 numbers, when at least + 10 * will stably stay on the thermometer. After May 22, do not plant cucumbers at an unfavorable time for them. In June, you should land on the 12th-17th.

No other days should be planted.

Land preparation for planting

We plant cucumbers in only two ways: vertically or horizontally. It should be noted that in the first variant, the landing will be carried out using special ropes for “helpers” tied up along the frame (you can do it yourself), and in the second case, with a cobweb on the plot of the garden.

Cucumbers are very fond of the sun, do not forget to make your seedlings so that the sun falls on all parts of the foliage, it is better to make a horizontal row deeper and narrower so that each row has enough of everything. They also love warmth, if the season portends constant rains, put a greenhouse to improve the comfort and useful qualities of the vegetable. For lovers of beauty and order in the garden, you can horizontal beds, planted in flower beds.

IMPORTANT: so that the distance from each flower bed to the next is decent. It is also worth considering if you have chosen the type of seed cucumber "hybrid", therefore, it is better to plant vertically, since they are more comfortable with this type of cultivation, which brings twice as many fruits.

Preparing seeds for planting

Cucumbers germinate slowly, in order to speed up the process a little, we follow a little trick of gardeners. We need a small rag where the seeds should be poured, soaked in water and hidden in a glass jar for 2-4 days until the seeds germinate a little.

This method is called germination, but it must be remembered that 3 times a day you should check the moisture of the cloth and moisten it again as needed. If you put the jar of seeds in the sun, additional heat will go out and the germination process will go faster. Before each watering, inspect the seeds, if they become covered with mold, it is necessary to throw out those that begin to rot. As soon as half of the seeds have sprouts, you can plant cucumbers.

Fertilizer before planting

The root structure of the cucumber is quite close to the surface. And so they need maximum care from the bottom of the earth. To ensure their complete comfort, you will need to: dig up the ground and dig a hole where cucumbers will grow, pour out chopped brushwood prepared in advance (if there is no brushwood, it should be replaced with coniferous spruce branches), unripe compost, peat, straw or sawdust, a thin layer of manure or humus, adding some ash and cover everything with garden soil about 27 centimeters. All this is useful organic “garbage”, it will gradually rot and eventually begin to release heat, after which it will turn into excellent fertilizer.

Planting seeds

Once you have decided which method is more convenient for you to plant, we proceed to seedlings. If the method is vertical, step back every 40 cm for their comfort and comfortable heat delivery. By the horizontal method, it will be available to retreat from 20 to 30 cm from other flower beds (beds).

In the cold season

As you already know, cucumbers love warmth, but in May it is still quite cold and grow more slowly because of this reason. To speed up the process, use a few useful tricks. First way This is a greenhouse, where vegetables feel warm enough and comfortable.

It is necessary to check the bundles of leaves so that the entire crop looks up and nothing is hidden (otherwise nothing will grow in this area). Second way for economical people.

You just need to cover them with ordinary synthetic material (for example, a transparent film), in addition, there will be additional heat for the crop, which will lead to a quick harvest of fruits. As soon as the first shoots appear from the ground, make sure that the ground under them is always slightly damp.

Care during growth

Caring for cucumbers is watering for regular soil moisture, after the appearance of the third leaf, fertilizer from manure diluted in half with water should be used. Periodic mineral top dressing (for example, 7 g of ammophos is sprayed per meter of land, every 10-14 days), weed removal and pest control.

Watering plants, produce 1-2 times a week depending on weather and land conditions. It must be done early in the morning before 7 o'clock or in the evening no later than 18 o'clock.

Harvesting and storage

Harvesting is carried out after the fruit ripens, young "gherkins" should not be harvested, as this is not yet a ripe vegetable. Cucumbers are cut off or carefully torn off the stalks without damaging the main loop. If you have not watched and overexposed the crop, the taste will change.

The cucumber will have a yellow peel and add bitterness. This species should be consumed in a salad, having cut off the peel in advance. Fresh cucumbers are not stored for a long time and therefore they are used in pickling for winter stocks or canning in factories for sale. Note. The more green waste there is, the warmer the bed will be. You can also add the same manure or other components here to speed up and process everything organic. Steps to create a compost bed with your own hands:

• Before you plant cucumbers in a greenhouse, you need to create a compost bed. The principle of creating the device is exactly the same as the previous one. You must first lay down something that will rot, and fill 200 mm of soil on top, after which you can plant cucumber seeds.

Note. For a compost bed, it is best to plant shoots that have already sprouted in advance in peat tablets or cups.

• Caring for cucumbers in a greenhouse is exactly the same, under a film, but the temperature regime will be somewhat lower. This method is more suitable for warm regions. How to plant cucumbers in a greenhouse using the compost method in cold regions. If there is no other way out, then it is best to do this already in the spring warming.

After harvesting, do not rush to get rid of the manure and compost beds, they will still serve you. It is possible to fill in new layers of organic raw materials without digging later. By choosing one of the methods, it is possible to plant cucumber even in cold regions.

For more detailed information, you can watch the instructional video.

We plant seedlings

The technology of planting the seedlings themselves in the greenhouse is also not simple. There are some nuances that need to be considered. Seedlings can be planted if:

• They have at least 4-5 leaves. They have been hardened.
• Seedlings should be planted around the first half of February in a winter greenhouse. If the greenhouse is spring, then there must be warm beds and technical heating at the beginning of April, and without technical heating, at the end of April. Ordinary film greenhouses with natural solar heating provide for planting cucumbers only at the beginning of May. 30 cm), but ridges are also possible. Before planting, it is necessary to make moisturizing watering directly into the wells.

Then the cubes with seedlings are buried directly into the soil at 1/3 of the height so that the upper edge is above the surface of the beds.

We make the harvest rich

In order for the harvest to be excellent, the plant will need high-quality nutrition. For this, special mineral and organic fertilizers for the soil are used. What exactly:

• Soil mixtures are suitable for these purposes. They fall asleep for scrapping 15 cm on top of the already heated biofuel. For the vegetation of crops, the soil base layer must be increased to 25 cm.

How to make a garter

This is the most crucial moment in the formation of a crop, if the garter is not done on time, then the leaves may decrease, which will lead to a decrease in yield. So:

German Sterligov - How to plant cucumbers correctly?

• When the cucumbers begin to grow and vertical loops begin to appear, the trellis is immediately tied to the wire. During this period, the culture should be watered moderately. The wire is stretched along the row at a height of 180 cm. And for the trellis, you will need twine in sections of 250 cm. The upper end is thrown over the trellis wire and tied with a free loop under the 2nd or 3rd free sheet. When the phase has reached the 9th sheet, you can proceed to the formation of bushes. New branches are plucked off in the lower three nodes (blinding technology), and above the 5th node to the wire, the shoots cling to the side for 2-3 leaves. As soon as the plant reaches the wire, the main lash is twisted around the wire several times and fixed.

Considering that such a culture as a cucumber loves moisture very much, therefore it is extremely demanding on the aeration of the soil base.

• If there is no air in the soil, then the roots may die. Therefore, soil moisture should be maintained at a level of 60% to 80%. Plants should be carefully watered in the cold winter period, this is done in the morning, on warm days and with warm water, about 25 degrees.

Care must be taken to ensure that water does not get on the leaves. Watering is done 2 times a week. If the days are hot, it is possible after 1 day, watering is combined with top dressing of mineral and organic fertilizers.

It is difficult to imagine a vegetable garden without cucumber beds, although this heat-loving vegetable can be very demanding on heat, regular watering and sprinkling, as well as on the quality of the soil. In order for the future harvest of cucumbers to please with abundance, it is necessary to prepare a place for cucumbers already in the fall. You should choose the sunniest place, well protected from the wind, remove weeds and dig the soil to a depth of 25-30 cm. You can ensure the best heating of the soil in the garden by placing it from east to west. If the soil structure does not correspond to favorable conditions for growing cucumbers, then fertilizers will be required.

Favorable soil structure for cucumbers

The owners, whose garden plot is located in the floodplain of the river, can be proud of the rich harvest of this vegetable, without doing special soil preparation. Sandy and loamy fertile soil with a close occurrence of groundwater is what cucumbers need. There is only one drawback - the lack of potassium salt.

Lover of moisture - cucumber does not tolerate light sandy soils that are not able to hold it. But heavy land, where an excess of water is stored for a long time, is not for him. With the increased acidity of the soil, you will also have to fight with the help of liming.

Precursor cultures

When choosing a place for a cucumber bed, you need to pay attention to what crops grew there before. The best predecessors are onions, cabbage, potatoes and perennial herbs. A plot planted this season with tomatoes or garlic is suitable. If there are not so many good places for cucumbers and you have to plant them year after year on the same area, then the top layer of soil must be removed. In autumn, you can make a tall, warm bed of grass, tops of the crop harvested at this time, placing the coarsest waste on the bottom: sunflower, corn trunks, cut branches and tree leaves. Potato peels, moldy bread and other food scraps are stacked on top.

Many gardeners have adopted the method of planting cucumbers on a compost heap, which is decorated with boards knocked together from boards. The heat that cucumbers need so much is produced by rotting the lower layers of such a bed, and vegetables can be sown much earlier by covering them with a film. Since the branches are not able to rot in one season, it is possible to equip a place for cucumbers in the same place more than once, while replacing the top fertile layer of the earth.

Rules for fertilizing cucumbers

Both mineral and organic fertilizers must be applied to the top layer of soil (30 cm), where cucumbers will be planted. Their number depends on the existing soil structure. Potassium-phosphorus top dressing should be laid in the fall. Cucumbers need little nitrogen, but if necessary, it is introduced in the spring, since, unlike the first, it quickly decays. On average, each square meter of land requires:

Organics (humus, peat) - up to 7 kg;
- crushed limestone - 6 kg;
- potassium salt - 10–25 gr.;
- superphosphate - 50–60 gr.;
- ammonium sulphate - 17–25;
- ammonium nitrate - no more than 25 gr.

Cucumbers love well-drained soil. Therefore, a place for them is selected bright and sunny, protected from the northern winds. It is good if potatoes, peas, onions, cabbage or tomatoes grew there before.

According to the mechanical composition, cucumbers prefer sandy and light loamy soils. If they are heavy clay, then sand is added at the rate of 1-2 buckets per 1 m2. When preparing a site for cucumbers, it is also important to take into account the acidity of the soil.

For a good harvest, it should be slightly acidic or closer to neutral (pH 6.0-6.5). If the soil is acidic, then lime is added for digging in the fall - 300-500 g per 1 m2 (depending on the level of acidity).

As summer experience has shown, it is better to break cucumber beds in the 2-3rd year after liming. The preparation of the site for cucumbers begins with autumn digging on a spade bayonet (22-28 cm). In this case, the clods do not need to be broken.

In early spring, when the soil is rich in moisture, it is loosened with a rake and dug up to a depth of 10-12 cm with the simultaneous application of organic and mineral fertilizers. The rate of application of organic fertilizers (compost or manure) depends on the composition and fertility of the soil.

If it is cultivated, then 8-10 kg is enough for 1 m2. From mineral fertilizers for digging, they add 1 m 210-15 g of ammonium nitrate, 20-40 g of superphosphate and 10-20 g of potassium sulfate.

At the same time, the composition of the soil is also taken into account, for example, if it is sandy, then nitrogen fertilizers are given more. The beds are made up to 1 m wide, 20-25 cm high, leaving a passage of at least 30 cm between them.

The consumption of organic fertilizers for cucumbers can be reduced several times if they are applied not for digging, but in a hole when planting seedlings or in a row when sowing seeds.

Cucumbers, being natives of the tropics, grow well at high temperatures (22-27°C). They also love high humidity of air and soil - this is one of the most moisture-loving vegetable crops.

Cucumbers also love fertile soil, rich in humus, light in texture. To get a high yield, you must use the following techniques:- put a barrel or bucket with fermented grass in the greenhouse, which, releasing carbon dioxide, will accelerate the pouring of the ovaries; - in open ground to grow on a trellis, especially bunch cucumbers, this increases the yield several times.

Now about what cucumbers do not like. First of all, cold and acidic soil, watering with unheated water, drafts, sharp fluctuations in temperature (above 25-35 ° C during the day, 12-15 ° C at night). At 3-4°C plants die.

They also do not like excess nitrogen, overdrying of the soil, too high temperature in the greenhouse. - during the fruiting period, feed, alternating complex mineral and organic fertilizers; - collect green cucumbers in 2-3 days, avoiding overgrowing, as this worsens the taste of fruits and inhibits the formation of new ones.

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You can not plant a cucumber in the garden after plants of the pumpkin family

Planting time and growing cucumber seedlings Seeds germinate at +12 - +15 °С. Shoots appear on the 6th day. Cucumbers can be grown through, then the seeds are sown in the substrate at the end of April, and the seedlings are planted in the garden at the end of May. The substrate for seedlings of cucumbers is made up of soddy land, humus, mullein (2: 7: 1). You can use soil from peat and mullein (4: 1). 30 g of ammonium nitrate or urea, 20 g of superphosphate, 6 g of potassium salt, 30 g of lime are added to a bucket of soil mixture. Growing cucumbers in open ground is effective when planting them there with 25-30 day old seedlings (2-3 true leaves). In the first days, germination requires a temperature of +20-25°C, later - +20-22°C during the day, 15-16°C at night. Cucumbers do not tolerate transplants well, so it is better to plant them immediately in separate containers (10-12 cm in diameter) without intermediate ones. Cucumber seedlings are planted in the ground at the age of 25-30 days in the phase of 4-5 true leaves. 10 days after germination, cucumber seedlings are fed with slurry (1:1) or bird droppings (1:10), adding 20 g of superphosphate per 1 bucket of solution. 1-2 days before planting cucumber seedlings in the ground, they are fed by dissolving 15 g of urea, 40 g of superphosphate, 10 g of potassium fertilizers in 10 liters of water (consumption of 10 liters of solution per 2 m?). A week before planting, the seedlings are hardened, gradually accustoming them to the sun's rays, cool air and wind. For the prevention of diseases, it is useful to treat cucumber seedlings with epin or immunocytophyte. If you sow cucumber seeds directly into open ground, this must be done in early June, but for reliability, it is better to cover the seedlings with a film or lutrasil. At a temperature of +20°C, flowering will occur 10 days later than at +27°C. At temperatures of 32 ° C, the development of cucumber is inhibited.

The scheme of planting cucumbers in open ground - 20x100 cm. The scheme for planting cucumbers in a greenhouse is 80x60 cm. A cucumber should grow in warm warm soil, so it is better to grow it on a height of 25 cm. It is better to orient the cucumber beds from east to west, arranging a slight slope to the south.

Seeds of cucumber close up to a depth of 2-3 cm. Germination of cucumber seeds is better after 2-4 years of storage.

: anthracnose, powdery mildew, root rot, white rot, bacteriosis, cucumber mosaic, melon aphid, whitefly, slugs, spider mite. They will help to cope with many problems, but it is better to choose disease-resistant cucumber varieties. Many plants in joint plantings are able to take care of their neighbors and them.

Cucumbers need frequent watering, fertilizing and several hillings per season, which stimulates the formation of additional roots. Ground cucumbers are usually pinched over the 5-6th leaf to stimulate the formation of lateral lashes. In greenhouse cucumbers, the lateral lashes are regularly pinched over the first ovary. To simplify care and improve the temperature and water conditions, cucumber beds are better. It is necessary to remove excess fruits that have reached 5-7 cm so that no more than 10-18 cucumbers remain on one plant. Cucumbers love high humidity, for which they can be sprayed, but it is also impossible to overdo it in this matter because of the risk of various fungal diseases. When growing cucumbers in greenhouses, regular ventilation is necessary. To increase the yield and improve pollination, it is necessary to attract pollinating insects to the garden, for which the plant during flowering can be sprayed with a solution of sugar (100 g) and boric acid (2 g) per 1 liter of hot water. Also nearby you can hang jars with a solution of honey (1 teaspoon per 1 glass of water). In order to avoid poisoning of insect pollinators during the flowering of the garden, spraying with pesticides is not used.

Cucumber varieties for open ground: Altai early 166, Vyaznikovsky 37, Murom 36, Graceful, Cucumber varieties for growing in greenhouses: Magnificent, Manul, April, Druzhny, MOVIR-1,

Preparation of soil for planting cucumbers. For growing cucumbers in a personal plot, you need to prepare the soil in a special way. Not only the rapid growth of plants, but also their productivity will depend on the quality of the soil. Cucumber develops best in slightly acidic or neutral soil pH 6.4-7.0. Fluctuation from 4 to 7.6 pH is allowed. Excessive soil acidity has a detrimental effect on cucumber growth. In advanced greenhouse farms, the soil mixture for growing cucumber seedlings is prepared on the basis of top peat. Dolomite flour 8-16 kg (depending on pH), potassium sulphate - 800 g, double superphosphate - 800 g, ammonium nitrate - 600 g, copper sulphate - 20 g, ammonium molybdate - 4 g, boric acid are added to one cubic meter of peat - 15 g, manganese sulfate - 6 g, zinc sulfate - 2 g, ferrous sulfate - 15 g. Greenhouse soils are prepared in advance, in the warm season. Fresh manure is usually not used. Peat is laid in layers on the site, then manure and the top layer - soddy land or sawdust. All components are mixed. The mixture is limed to pH 6.2-6.4, for which 3-5 kg ​​per cubic meter of lime mixture is added, dolomite flour is added from 8 to 16 kg. During the storage period, they are additionally sorted out 2-3 times. Under the third transfer per cubic meter of the mixture, add 300 g of ammonia selife, 400 g of double superphosphate, 400 g of potassium sulfate. To saturate with microelements, wood ash must be added. Mineral fertilizers and microelements can be replaced with infusion of fermented chicken manure, diluted 15-30 times, or cow dung, diluted 10 times. Apply 5-10 liters per cubic meter of the mixture. It is better to prepare a double amount of soil so that there is a reserve for the next year, because. the process of preparing high-quality soil lasts 6 months. The change of soil in the greenhouse should be done after 2-3 years, and if you constantly grow cucumbers, then you need to replace the top layer from 5 to 7 cm annually. The soil layer for growing cucumbers in the greenhouse should be at least 15 cm, and a maximum of 30 cm, i.e. To. The root system of cucumbers is located in the upper layer at a depth of 15-20 cm.

Word to science

soil for cucumbers

Cucumbers love light sandy and loamy soil with a close occurrence of groundwater (3 cm from the surface). But cucumbers do not like sandy light and infertile soils, as they do not retain moisture well.

Also, acidic, heavy and waterlogged soil is contraindicated for cucumbers. When choosing a piece of land for cucumbers, be aware that in this case it is very important what crops grew in this place before. Nothing more, nothing less depends on this, but the harvest of cucumbers.

It is most preferable to plant cucumbers after onions, early potatoes, cabbage or perennial grasses. The soil for cucumbers should be rich in humus and fairly loose. Cucumbers love sunny, sheltered places.

The nutrients that the soil for cucumbers should be rich in should be in an easily digestible form. So, the near-river part of the floodplain fertile land will become ideal.

But this option is far from suitable for many, since not all garden plots are located in the floodplain of the river. Although this option also has its drawbacks, since such soil lacks potassium. But sandy soils need nitrogen.

As mentioned above, the soil for cucumbers must be fertile. It is very important to apply both organic and mineral fertilizers to the soil.

Depending on the structure of the soil on which you are going to plant cucumbers, potassium salt (from 10 to 25 gr.), Superphosphate (50-60 gr.), Ammonium sulphate (17-25 gr.), ammonium nitrate (up to 25 gr.). As for organic fertilizers, in this case, up to 7 kilograms of compost, peat or manure will need to be applied per square meter.

In the event that the soil is infertile, the dose of fertilizers is increased to 10 kilograms. With acidic soil, up to 6 kilograms of ground limestone are applied per square meter. All these recommendations are also relevant when preparing the soil for planting all types of pumpkin.

It is important to follow some rules when applying certain types of fertilizer. So, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers should be applied to the soil in the fall, and nitrogen fertilizers in the spring. This is due to the fact that they have a rapid decay.

The ideal option is to prepare the soil for cucumbers in the fall. All plant debris is removed from it and a deep dig is made (up to 25 centimeters). Leave lumps unbroken.

Soil preparation for cucumbers

Cucumbers should be placed in warm, well-lit areas protected from prevailing winds. Places with insufficient lighting for cucumbers are unsuitable, as well as areas with low relief.

The most suitable for cucumbers are light, well-heated, permeable, sandy and loamy soils. It is no accident, therefore, that the highest yields of cucumbers are obtained on old garden, well-fertilized soils. Acidic, poorly cultivated, heavy, cold soils, with a shallow topsoil, are unsuitable for sowing cucumbers. The best predecessors for cucumbers are cabbage, potatoes, onions, when an appropriate dose of manure is applied.

Nutritional regime of cucumber plants

Cucumbers differ from other vegetable crops in their low nutrient intake. However, due to the placement of their root system in the upper layers of the soil and the relatively rapid consumption of food elements, cucumber plants make high demands on the availability of sufficient nutrients in the soil in an easily digestible form. At a young age, cucumber plants are very sensitive to high concentrations of soil solution; during this period, mineral fertilizers containing the nutrients necessary for the plant should be applied in parts - during the period of tillage, during sowing and as top dressing (in liquid form). Cucumbers are very responsive to organic fertilizers.

On soils well filled with organic fertilizers, the efficiency of mineral fertilizers also increases sharply. Manure is the most valuable organic fertilizer.

Turning into humus, it improves the structure of the soil, makes heavy clay soils more loose, and gives cohesion to sandy soils. The composition of manure includes: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium. Horse and sheep manure is richer in nitrogen and phosphoric acid, it is looser, contains less water, decomposes faster and heats up better.

It is called hot manure. Cattle and pig manure contains more water and decomposes slowly. Manure is applied for cucumbers, 4-8 kg per m², depending on the fertility of the soil.

On well-developed, rich soils, less manure is applied - 3-4 kg each, and on nutrient-poor soils, the manure rate is increased to 8 kg per m?. Manure is applied in two terms: the first half from autumn, for digging, and the second part (in a rotted form) in the spring, when processing fallow, or in holes, when sowing seeds. On light soils, manure should be applied immediately before sowing cucumbers, for plowing or digging the site.

In heavier soils, where manure decomposes slowly, it is applied early in spring or autumn. When growing cucumbers, mineral fertilizers and ash are widely used. The rate of application of mineral fertilizers mainly depends on the fertility of the soil.

On soils poor in nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are applied under cucumbers. In soils well fertilized with manure, only potash and phosphorus fertilizers are applied. Under the cucumbers they bring (and grams per 1 m?):

• nitrogen fertilizers (ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulphate) - 20-30; superphosphate - 30-50; potash fertilizers - 20-25

Granulated superphosphate contribute half as much. When applying mineral fertilizers, it is impossible to mix ammonium nitrate with superphosphate, as it will turn out to be a wet, poorly sown mass, and when nitrogen fertilizers are mixed with lime and ash, ammonia is lost. Wood ash (from pine and birch) is a valuable potassium-phosphorus fertilizer, it contains 7 -13% potassium, 2-7% phosphorus and up to 32-37% lime.

On acidic soils, ash reduces their acidity. For one m? 1-2 kg of ash is applied, and the ash should be covered so that it does not come into contact with the roots of plants. Mineral fertilizers and ash are applied in the spring, in two periods: most of it - when sowing seeds and planting seedlings in holes.

The combined use of organic and mineral fertilizers increases their effectiveness and provides significant savings in manure consumption. However, on soils poor in humus, with the complete replacement of manure with mineral fertilizers, the fruit yield is sharply reduced.

tillage

Plots intended for sowing cucumbers are dug up in autumn and at the same time manure is introduced (on loamy soils). In the spring, when the soil dries up, it is loosened, and then dug up to a depth of 15-16 cm and immediately harrowed.

If the manure has not been introduced since the autumn, it is scattered and covered in the spring. More than a month passes from the snow melting to the sowing of the seeds. All this time, it is necessary to monitor the looseness of the soil on the site and remove weeds.

The day before sowing, the soil should be dug up or plowed again, picked up and lightly rolled. With this treatment, the seeds are planted more evenly, are better provided with moisture and germinate together.

Not everyone is successful with cucumbers these days. Nevertheless, many amateur vegetable growers have learned to get stable and high yields (up to 18 kg / m2) using temporary or permanent protected ground structures. They are installed from the south, southwest or southeast side, in such a way that during the day they are well lit by the sun and not shaded by anything, since the cucumber is a light-loving culture.

What soil do you like?

The soil soil should be highly fertile with a neutral reaction. It can include 100% lowland peat in its composition; 75% lowland peat and 25% sod land or 60% lowland peat, 20% sod land and 20% manure.

If the reaction of the soil solution (pH) is 6.4-6.5, then lime is not applied. On the most acidic soils, it must be added 1800 g, moderately acidic - 600-900 g, slightly acidic - 300 g / m2, instead of lime, you can use chalk, dolomite flour and wood ash. Digging up the soil for the winter.

What's on the cucumber menu?

In the spring, 10 days before planting, organic (10-15 kg / m2 of manure or compost) and mineral fertilizers are applied. After digging, the soil is covered with a film so that it warms up better. The amount of fertilizer applied depends on the results of the agrochemical analysis of your soil.

If you do not have the opportunity to do it, it is better to make up for the lack of plant nutrition during top dressing. The plants themselves will let you know about it. It is necessary to feed approximately once every 10 days, introducing 15 g of nitrogen, 25 g of phosphorus and 30 g of potash fertilizers.

With normal growth of cucumbers, the dose of each of them is reduced by 5 g. The total amount of fertilizers with one root dressing should not exceed 70 g / m2. In addition to nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, magnesium sulfate is added - 10-15 g / m2 and microfertilizers once every 3-5 years.

Better to grow seedlings

In protected ground, cucumbers are best grown by seedlings. Thanks to this, you can get earlier production and protect plants from diseases. Seedlings are grown 25-30 days before planting in a permanent place.

For this, soils such as "Dvina", "Room garden", etc. are used. or prepare them yourself: 5 g of ammonium nitrate, 10 g of potassium nitrate, 15 g of double superphosphate, 3 g of magnesium sulfate must be added to a bucket of peat mass. To reduce acidity, add 15-20 g of lime, chalk or dolomite flour.

In addition, microelements are needed - manganese sulfate - 0.2 g, copper sulfate - 0.03 g, ammonium molybdate - 0.06 g, zinc sulfate, boric acid and cobalt nitrate - 0.03 g each. Seeds are heated in during the day at a temperature of 50-60 degrees for disinfection from viruses. Then they germinate and as soon as they peck, they sow in peat, peat-muck pots or plastic cups with a volume of 6-10 cm3 filled with a nutrient mixture.

During the period of growing seedlings, the optimum air temperature should be within 22-24 ° C at night and on cloudy days. It is desirable to maintain the same temperature regime during the further vegetation of plants.

To this end, it is important to correctly determine the timing of planting. Seedlings are planted in greenhouses with technical air and soil heating at the beginning of April, with bioheating - at the end of April, without heating - at the beginning of May.

Under temporary structures, seedlings are planted depending on weather conditions. In unheated greenhouses, in case of cold weather, additional film shelters are used or the temperature is maintained by other means. By the time of planting, the seedlings should have 3-4 leaves, they are pre-hardened.

In greenhouses, cucumbers are grown on a flat surface or on ridges, the rows are oriented from north to south. For branched hybrids (hybrids are indicated by the F1 icon), Dawn, Rodnichok, Poplar and others use a single-line planting pattern - 50-100 cm between lines and 25-30 cm between plants.

Hybrids with self-regulating branching (April, Zozulya, Manul) are planted in two rows 50-60x80-90cmx30-40cm. To bee-pollinated hybrids of the female type of flowering, for better pollination, it is imperative to plant one monocyne (with a male type of flowering) plant every 4-5 linear meters.

You can choose the right varieties and hybrids that you need with the help of the characteristics published at the end of the article. When planting seedlings in the ground, they try not to injure the root system. In cool weather, the stem is not sprinkled too high with soil, as this can provoke the appearance of root and stem rot, from which the plants wither and die.

After rooting (5-7 days after planting), the plants of each row are tied with twine to two horizontal wires (trellises) stretched at a height of 2 m, 50 cm apart. For better light supply, they are tied through one to the right and left wires, creating a V-shaped trellis.

How to form?

In protected ground, plants are formed into one stem. Female flowers and shoots in the axils of the first four leaves up to a height of 40-50 cm are removed (blind zone), and the rest are pinched after the 2nd-3rd leaf.

When the main stem reaches the trellis, it is pinched, leaving 2-3 sheets above the wire, wrapped around it and tied in two places. Of the shoots that appear in the axils of the upper leaves, two or three are left, which are lowered down and pinched at a height of 1-1.2 m. The plants are watered with warm water (22-24 degrees) in the morning.

When the temperature in the greenhouse rises and evapotranspiration increases, more frequent watering is needed to maintain a relative humidity of 70-80%. Simultaneously with watering, the plants are fed as needed. It should be remembered that cucumbers love stagnant air and do not tolerate drafts. Cucumbers begin to bear fruit 40-45 days after planting seedlings. The fruits are harvested in the evening or early in the morning, cut off with a knife, at least two to three times a week.

Choose a variety

Parthenocarpic (self-pollinated) and bee-pollinated cucumber hybrids recommended for film greenhouses.

An early maturing hybrid of a female type of flowering, prone to parthenocarpy, a lash of medium length, with weak lateral branching. Fruiting occurs better if the flowers are pollinated by bees.

Zelenets is cylindrical, green or dark green, 14-22 cm long, large-tuberous, white-thorned. The fruits are suitable for short-term salting, marinating and preparing salads. Productivity is 40 kg/sq.m.

Resistant to cladosporiosis, powdery mildew, cucumber mosaic virus I, root rot and ascochitosis. Long-branched, weakly branched, mid-season female-type hybrid, prone to parthenocarpy. At the beginning of fruit formation, it reacts positively to bee pollination.

Zelenets is cylindrical, medium-tuberous, white-thorned, 20-25 cm long, salad type. Productivity is 15-25 kg/m2. Resistant to cladosporiosis and cucumber mosaic virus I. Whip of medium length, with weak lateral branching (self-regulating).

This is an early, female type of flowering, parthenocarpy-prone hybrid. At the beginning of fruit formation, bee pollination is necessary. Zelenets is cylindrical in shape, green in color, 20-24 cm long, white-spiked, large-tuberous.

The fruits are suitable for short-term salting. Productivity is 40 kg/sq.m. Resistant to olive blotch, cucumber mosaic virus I, root rot and powdery mildew.

Long climbing and branched, mid-season, female type, parthenocarpic hybrid. Zelenets is club-shaped, tuberculate, white-thorned, salad purpose, 20-22 cm long. Productivity is 20-30 kg/m2. Resistant to powdery mildew.

Long-branched, medium-branched, female flowering type, bee-pollinated hybrid. Zelenets is cylindrical, tuberculate, white-thorned, 16-20 cm long, for salad purposes. Productivity is 30-40 kg/m2. Resistant to root rot.

Long-branched, medium-branched, bee-pollinated, early-maturing hybrid. Zelenets is oval-cylindrical, 18-25 cm long, rarely tuberculate, brown-spiked, salad purpose. Productivity is 25-30 kg/sq.m. Resistant to root rot.

Mid-season, female type of flowering, bee-pollinated, long-climbing hybrid, medium or weak branching. Zelenets is cylindrical, with an elongated base, large-tuberous, white-spiked, 18-22 cm long, for salad purposes. Productivity is 50-60 kg/m2.

Resistant to cucumber mosaic virus I. Long-branched, branched, mid-season, bee-pollinated female hybrid. Zelenets is cylindrical, tuberculate, black or brown-spiked, 9-12 cm long, universal purpose. Productivity is 15-25 kg/m2.

Resistant to olive blotch. Long-braided, medium-branched, mid-season, bee-pollinated female hybrid. Zelenets is oval-cylindrical, 12-13 cm long, mostly black-thorned, universal purpose, tuberculate. Productivity is 25-30 kg/sq.m.

Resistant to true and downy mildew.

Varieties and hybrids of cucumber recommended for growing under small-sized film shelters.

A variety with a shortened lash, early ripening, branchy, mixed type of flowering (monocyne - both male and female flowers are on the same plant). Zelenets 10-12 cm long, oval-fusiform, light green, finely tuberculate, white-spiked.

The fruits are used for salads, pickling and short-term salting. Resistant to cladosporiosis. Short climbing, early maturing, weakly branched variety of mixed flowering type with a predominance of female flowers.

Male and female flowers are predominantly arranged in whorls, that is, several pieces in one leaf axil. Zelenets (length 8-10 cm) elliptical, green in color, large-tuberous, black-thorned, mostly without bitterness, universal purpose.

Resistant to cladosporiosis and powdery mildew. Short climbing, early maturing, branched variety with a predominance of female flowers.

Zelenets 10-12 cm long, oval-elliptical in shape, dark green in color, large-tuberous, black-thorned, universal purpose, rarely with bitter fruits. Resistant to cladosporiosis. Medium climbing, branched, high-yielding, mid-season, heterotic hybrid.

Plants predominantly female type of flowering, that is, with some ovaries. Zelentsy 10-12 cm, elliptical, light green, large tuberculate, white-spiked. The fruits are salted, canned and consumed fresh.

The hybrid is resistant to cladosporiosis. Medium climbing, early maturing, high-yielding, heterotic hybrid of the female type. Zelentsy 10-11 cm, elliptical, green in color, large-tuberous, black-thorned. Fruits without bitterness, universal purpose.

The arrangement of female flowers (ovaries) on plants can be single, paired and in the form of whorls. The hybrid is resistant to cladosporiosis, powdery mildew, and is less affected by downy mildew. Read more articles on this topic here.

Cucumbers originate from the tropical regions of India. They are thermophilic and moisture-loving, require very fertile soil. The best temperature for the growth of cucumbers is +22 - +28 ° C. At +15 - +20 ° C, growth slows down, and below +15 ° C it almost stops. A cold snap below + 10 ° C for more than two days leads to the disease of cucumbers, rotting of their roots and death even in the absence of frost.

Cucumbers need sunlight, however, unlike most cucurbits and nightshades, they will not greatly reduce the yield if the site is shaded for 2-4 hours daily. The roots of cucumbers do not tolerate cold at all and watering with cold water, therefore, planting is best done on an elevated bed so that the earth warms up well on all sides. To heat the roots, heat is also used, which is released during the decomposition of fresh manure or plant residues.

Despite moisture love, cucumbers do not like stagnant water which causes root rot. Therefore, the soil in the cucumber bed should be very light and moisture-permeable, contain a lot of humus and sand; admixture of clay and other types of heavy soils are undesirable. . These are herbaceous vines 2-3 m long. The roots of cucumbers are weak, they do not penetrate deep into the soil, they do not like damage and disturbance, unlike the roots of tomatoes. Therefore, it is undesirable to loosen the earth in cucumber ridges, and so that after watering a crust does not form, it is necessary to mulch with humus. Loosening is carried out only after large waterings and very carefully.

A few words about placing cucumbers vertically . Plants grow up to 3 m during the summer. They can be grown on a high trellis (1.5-2 m) on a low trellis (less than 1 m), or simply creeping along the ground. Which way is better? Here the answer is unequivocal: on a high trellis. First, it provides significant space savings. Secondly, pathogens of cucumber diseases are always found in the ground, leading to their rapid death, and lying lashes will quickly become infected. On the contrary, when the lashes are tied vertically, they are well ventilated, better illuminated by the sun, which significantly improves the growth conditions of cucumbers and reduces their incidence.

arrange high trellis easy for cucumbers. You can drive two high (not lower than 1.5 m) sticks along the edge of the bed, attach a bar on top of them - a long pole or pipe. Growing lashes of cucumbers are regularly (once every one to two weeks) tied with long soft ropes or ribbons of fabric to the top bar (a hard rope will grind delicate lashes, so it’s better not to use it for this purpose).

Before proceeding to the description of specific methods of growing cucumbers, a few words about them mass diseases.

In the middle or end of July on the leaves of cucumbers in the open field yellow spots appear, which increase rapidly, the leaves begin to dry out quickly, the fruits become small, hard and crooked. Most of the diseased plants die completely by the beginning of August. There is a lot of talk among amateur gardeners about the cause of the death of cucumbers - acid rain, cold dew, radioactive dust, etc. Experts know that this disease is provoked by microorganisms and is called downy mildew, or peronosporosis. To combat it, many means are used - Bordeaux mixture, potassium permanganate, infusions of fermented herbs, penicillin solutions, but all of them do not guarantee, however, the survival of cucumbers.

A truly reliable way to harvest cucumbers in the open field is the use of relatively resistant to downy mildew varieties. These are Far Eastern varieties (Mig, Cascade) and selected varieties of other origin, such as Konkurent. The vast majority of European domestic and foreign varieties, instead of a good harvest, bring a lot of trouble to the gardener.

Finally, a few words about how to get cucumber seeds. Do not forget that for food we pick completely unripe fruits, and for their full ripening, a lot of time must pass. Therefore, for seeds it is necessary to leave the very first fruits.

As for the Cascade variety, only those plants that have the so-called female type should be taken for seed purposes, that is, they have about five nodes that have male flowers, and the rest are female. Seed fruits are left no lower than the axil of the fourth or fifth leaf. The selected cucumber first turns yellow, then its surface coarsens and becomes covered with cracks, like the surface of a melon. In this form, the fruit should hang until the fall, when the bush will need to be removed. Small frosts, unlike green cucumbers, are not terrible for the testicles. After the first frost and the death of the plant, remove the fruit and place it on a window or closet. There he still ripen 10-20 days. As soon as the fruit becomes slightly soft (the unripe fruit is very hard), cut it, remove the seeds and, together with the pulp, leave for two days in some kind of bowl at room temperature. If mold appears on top, it's not a problem. Then thoroughly rinse the seeds from the remnants of the pulp, dry, and the product is ready for storage. However, do not allow the fruit to overripe during maturation (it will be very soft), this can cause the seeds to germinate right inside the cucumber.

An interesting observation: if the cucumber on the cut has four lobes, then its seeds will give plants with predominantly female flowers, but if the fruit is three-lobed, then male flowers will predominate.

Cultivation of cucumbers by "lazy" gardeners.

Primarily choose the cultivation method that suits you- sowing seeds directly into open ground, sowing under a temporary film shelter or planting pre-grown seedlings in the ground.

cucumber seedling(like all pumpkins) is very tender and takes root very poorly after planting, and even if the root ball of the earth is not disturbed at all, the plant will only acclimatize for 10 days, get used to the new place, and then its growth will begin. In addition, seedlings at home are often stretched so much that the first cotyledon leaves are 5-10 cm above the ground, and the plant ceases to stand on its feet. This is due to the fact that seedlings require direct sunlight (which our windows often lack) and lower temperatures at night. Finally, growing seedlings is not at all a prerequisite for obtaining good yields of cucumbers. Therefore, a "lazy" gardener should not mess with cucumber seedlings, and we will not dwell on this method in detail.

Sowing seeds directly into open ground. This method is the most hassle-free, but you won’t get a big harvest in this way, and in a cold and damp summer until autumn you will have time to remove only a few cucumbers from 1 m. If such a risk triples you, get down to business.

Let's start with seeds. Dozens of ways of their pre-sowing treatment are described - soaking in solutions of microelements, fertilizers, potassium permanganate, pesticides; warming dry and soaked seeds; bar-bottling them with air and in water, etc. However, good varietal seeds can not be processed in any way; with proper care, normal plants will grow from them anyway. The only condition is that it is undesirable to use the seeds of the previous year's crop, and if there are no other seeds, then it would be good to "age" the available ones.

Before sowing seeds are best soaked for a day in a warm place or for two days at room temperature (you can just in a wet cloth). During soaking, the seeds will peck; in this way, firstly, you will be able to sow seeds that have germination capacity in the ground, and secondly, you will significantly speed up the emergence of seedlings - the earth during sowing cucumbers has a temperature much lower than room temperature, and germination will go much slower in it.

When to sow? The time must be chosen so as to sow early and not fall under frost. In warm weather, seedlings appear after 5-6 days; in cold weather - only on the 12-14th day. Approximate sowing dates - the last days of May - the beginning of June.

How to prepare a garden bed? The main thing (even for the "lazy") is to "fill" the bed with good humus or rotted manure - at least two buckets per 1 sq. m and wood ash of at least 0.5 kg per 1 m. Whatever the good soil in your area, without the introduction of ash and humus, there will be no good harvest of cucumbers. When digging up a bed, shape it so that it rises above the soil by at least half a bayonet of a shovel - just as in the case of nightshade plants. To sow cucumbers in two rows, it is convenient to make the width of the beds 70-80 cm.

Growth of cucumbers can be accelerated, increase the yield, if you arrange a bed on top of fresh manure - it will "burn" and warm the roots of the plants. However, this method requires noticeable additional effort and time, so we will consider it in the section on intensive methods of growing cucumbers. Do not forget that cucumbers need sunlight, and the bed should be in the shade for no more than 4 hours.

How to sow? Before sowing (!) Be sure to water the garden bed with water warmed in the sun - just before, and not after - otherwise you can wash the ground from under the seeds. If this operation is done after sowing, then there is a risk of washing the ground from under the seeds. Then make two grooves along the entire bed with a depth of 3-4 cm at a distance of 30 cm from each other. Place the seeds in the grooves carefully at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other. Do not sow more often - almost all seeds will sprout - after all, they have already germinated; it will be a pity to thin out, and when thickened, the tendency to disease increases and the yield will fall. Place the seeds upside down or flat.

After sowing absolutely necessary mulch the entire garden bed, or at least the rows of sowing with loose humus, peat or sawdust. If this is not done, the soil will dry quickly and in the absence of rain, the bed will have to be watered every other day, which, in addition, can wash the seeds. The mulching rate is small - about half a bucket of humus per 1 sq. m.

What to do with seedlings? First, do not dry - in the absence of rain, watering is necessary at least twice a week. Secondly, if the seedlings are elongated (that is, the first, cotyledonous, leaves do not come out directly from the ground, but are on a long stalk), - most often this happens - it is necessary to cover the stalks to the level of the cotyledons with humus in half with sand. Otherwise, the plants will be weak and die quickly, while the buried plants will grow additional roots from the buried stalk, which will fix the bush in the ground and enhance its growth.

Our cucumbers do not need any more care. They do not have to be pinched, fertilized, sprayed, loosened, etc. However, this will not significantly increase the yield. Moreover, remember that cucumbers are capable of accumulating large amounts of nitrates, so any fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers (including organic - mullein) of plants that already have ovaries can lead to excessive accumulation of harmful substances in fruits. The only concern in the summer is to tie the growing lashes to the trellis in time and water them with warm water.

What will be the result? Of course, everyone has their own. But in general, the yield when growing cucumbers by sowing directly into open ground is unlikely to exceed 2-4 kg per 1 m. The fruits grow only by the beginning of August, by the time of fruiting, the plants will still be quite weak (compared to those grown in greenhouses or under temporary cover). They would have entered the very strength by the beginning of September, but unsuitable conditions - cold, or even frost, would not allow them to develop in full force.

That's briefly all that can be said about the easiest way to grow cucumbers for those who have limited options for caring for them. We add, in fairness, that the cultivation of this crop under temporary film cover in the spring - at the beginning of summer will not add much trouble, but the harvest will allow you to get many times more.

Cultivation of cucumbers under a temporary film shelter.

The essence of the method is to extend the vegetation period of plants by shifting the sowing dates to the first half of May. Thus, we will get the first fruits a month earlier than when sown directly into the ground, while the yield will increase several times, since the main stage of fruiting cucumbers will occur already in the warmest time - in July - early August, when plants and fruits grow "like by leaps and bounds." By the second half of August, when cold snaps are possible and the growth of cucumbers slows down, the plants become so powerful that even with slow growth, you can regularly pick a lot of fruits - after all, there are a lot of ovaries on a powerful bush!

Naturally, all these advantages will be fully manifested if cucumbers do not get sick and die in the second half of summer. Therefore, under a temporary film shelter, it is most reasonable to grow varieties resistant to downy mildew. Let us also remind you that there is probably no available remedy for this disease.

A bed for cucumbers under temporary shelter is basically prepared in the same way as for sowing in unprotected soil. The only difference is that the bed should be ready by the beginning of May. Between May 3-12, choose a sunny day, place arcs over the bed and stretch plastic or other light-transmitting film over them. The height of the greenhouse can be different, but it is more convenient - about 50 cm (slightly higher than knee-deep). Press the film along the edges with boards, bricks, etc. Soak the seeds the same day. In a day - two seeds will peck, and the earth under the film will warm up. Then sow, regardless of the weather. Remove the film from the bed and do everything in the same way as when sowing in open ground. Then stretch the film again. To make the greenhouse more resistant to strong winds, frequent in May, dig the film on the sides with earth. Make sure that the film is well stretched and does not "rinse" in the wind - this is a condition for maintaining heat under it.

In 6-9 days after sowing, friendly shoots will appear under the film. Try to keep them. Cucumbers under the film in the spring are threatened by two misfortunes - frost and heat. Let's start with the cold. Seedlings appear depending on the timing of sowing and the weather. At this time, severe frosts are possible on the soil, and a drop in air temperature to -3°C is not excluded. A good film without holes, dug from the sides with earth and carefully pressed down from the ends with a load, will protect the seedlings if they are not too close (up to 10 cm) to the film. Make sure that there are no gaps between the edges of the film and the ground through which cold air could enter.

Now about the heat. In May, real heat is also possible - sunny weather with a temperature in the shade above + 20 ° C. Under the film on such a day, the air will heat up to + 35 - + 38 ° C, which can lead to the death of seedlings from overheating. To protect young plants from this disaster, slightly open the film from one or both ends in the morning on a sunny and warm day for ventilation. If you expect several hot days in a row, the film can not be lowered at night. However, this method is inconvenient in two respects. Firstly, not everyone can run to the garden plot every day (or even every other day), not to mention the fact that you can simply "miss" the weather forecast. Secondly, if the film from the ends of the greenhouse is open, then the earth dries quickly, which also does not bode well.

What to do? The advice will seem unusual - to use an old film for shelter - without holes, but not very transparent and clean either. This film will protect the crops from the cold to the same extent as a new one, but at the same time, a less transparent film will let in less sunlight, and the air in the greenhouse will not overheat.

If you are not a completely "lazy" gardener, then a bed for growing cucumbers under temporary shelter can be arranged so that the roots of the plants are heated from below. To do this, you can use fresh manure that can "burn". A bed can be arranged at the top of a dunghill. In order for the "burning" process to be sufficiently effective and the heat inside the bed to accumulate, a manure layer of at least 30 cm is required. nitrates in fruits.

Instead of manure, plant residues can be used, for which either a year before sowing at the site of the proposed bed, form a compost heap, which will “burn” the most intense next year, or dig a trench approximately as deep as a shovel bayonet, fill it tightly to the top with dry leaves in spring , pour over with heated (preferably hot) water and immediately cover with a layer of fertile soil on top (also about the height of the shovel bayonet). In summer, the leaves will rot and warm the roots of cucumbers with the released heat.

In all these cases, with additional heating, cucumbers will begin to bear fruit earlier, the harvest will be larger. In addition, sowing on heated beds can be carried out early, at the end of April, since the ground under the film is already heated from below by this time, which will protect the greenhouse from frost.

A little about intensive methods of growing cucumbers.

Rinse salt calibrated in a 5% salt solution (or simply selected in appearance) from salt, pickle for 10-15 minutes in potassium permanganate (1 g per 50 ml of water). Then soak them either in a solution of micronutrient fertilizers (for 12 hours), or in an infusion of ash (1 tablespoon of ash per 1 liter, leave for a day, strain, soak the seeds for 4-6 hours), or in a solution of baking soda (5 g per 1 l of water). Seed hardening can be carried out in the same way as it was recommended for tomatoes (hold the tortured seeds for 12 hours in the cold, then 12 hours in heat for five days).

As to whether to sow unsprouted or germinated seeds, there are different opinions. If sowing is done early and in cold ground, then it is better to use unsprouted seeds. If you prefer sowing at home for seedlings or in the ground under a film, on warmed ground, then give preference to seeds that have hatched, since this will reduce the germination time with a possible low germination of seeds.

Growing seedlings of cucumbers- a troublesome and, to tell the truth, inexpedient. Seedlings are very strongly stretched, especially the hypocotyl knee, and then they do not take root well in the ground. Cucumbers sown later directly into the ground usually catch up and even overtake seedlings. However, we should not forget that cucumbers are very thermophilic. For their germination, a temperature of at least +10 - +12 ° C is required, the optimum temperature is +16 - +18 ° C. For good plant growth, the temperature should be +22 - +25 ° C during the day, +18 - +20 ° C at night. Plants they do not tolerate temperature drops below +10 ° C, especially during the formation of flowers, after the first true leaf. Cucumbers need moist soil and moist air. Intensive technologies using greenhouses and greenhouses allow us to create optimal conditions for our crops.

Agricultural practices.

If cucumbers are planted in the spring in the ground under the film, then the latter, as the threat of frost decreases, is removed, and in the fall it is set again for the night - cucumbers in this case are able to bear fruit until frost.

The land under the cucumbers must be very fertile; it would be nice to use fresh soil from the forest. Be sure to add humus, ash. The above described how to prepare a trench for cucumbers. Let's add one more recommendation to this: in the early spring, boil a bucket of potatoes in their skins (you can sprouted potatoes, unsuitable for food), mash it, put it in a trench, pour hot water over it, close the trench with earth. From the decomposition of the potato mass, the earth will warm up. This technique can be used if there is no fresh manure.

An experienced gardener from Novosibirsk A.A. Zubov uses this way to get a warm bed: during the whole season, he puts the waste in a compost box measuring 1x1 m, 70 cm high. Early in the spring, he pierces the mass in several places, pours it with hot water, covers it with earth with humus with a layer about 30 cm thick, closes the box with a film. The earth quickly warms up, and on this "bed" he sows cucumber seeds, for example, Zozulya. After the seeds quickly sprout on the nutritious warmed soil, the film must be raised to the arcs. When the danger of frost has passed, the film is removed. On such a "bed" A.A. Zubov received all 76 kg of cucumbers!

In the soil, plants are placed either in holes (two plants each, the distance between holes is 40 cm), or in rows (at a distance between plants of 15 cm, between rows is 60 cm). It is very important not to thicken the crops. The grown plants are tied up on trellises.

A crucial moment in the development of cucumbers is the formation of a bush. In hybrids, female flowers are formed on the main stem, in ordinary varieties - on lateral shoots. Therefore, the varieties are pinched above the fifth or sixth leaf, which leads to the active growth of side shoots. For hybrids, this procedure is useless, if not harmful. Hybrid bushes are formed as follows: buds must be completely plucked out of the axils of two or three leaves, growth should be limited in subsequent lateral shoots. To do this, pinch the bottom ones after the first sheet, following after the second, etc. When the main stem grows to the top (the bar is placed at a height of about 2 m), it must be thrown over the top crossbar and allowed to grow down. When the stem drops to 30 cm from the ground, pinch the top. In no case should a "roof" be allowed to form, i.e. weaving shoots at the top, as shading the plants will lead to a sharp drop in yield. Twist the growing shoots around the vertical supports clockwise.

Cucumbers are very demanding on soil and air moisture. When grown outdoors in hot weather, a refreshing watering can be given in the morning or evening. But once a week, good watering is needed with soil moistening by 10-15 cm, which requires 1-1.5 buckets per 1 m2. The next day, very carefully loosen the ground, but it is better to mulch it with humus.

Top dressing. To obtain high yields of cucumbers, regular organomineral top dressing is recommended. The first is carried out after the engraftment of plants, 5-6 days after planting: dilute bird droppings with water in a ratio of G. 15 or 1:10 and add 5 g of magnesium sulfate per bucket; leave the prepared solution in the greenhouse for 3-5 days. During this time, he will ferment, release carbon dioxide, which is so necessary for cucumber plants. In the future, top dressing is carried out after 15 days, alternating organomineral with mineral (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium complex) and with microelements. The consumption rate is approximately 1 liter per plant.

Cucumber plants are very responsive to air feeding with carbon dioxide - growth is accelerated and the taste of fruits improves. For this purpose, you can put a bucket or a barrel with infusion of mullein or bird droppings in the greenhouse, stirring and renewing it from time to time. You can also dig a groove along the edge of the greenhouse and fill it with manure and water.

Note that cucumbers do not tolerate chlorine well, so it is better to use potassium-magnesium concentrate as potassium salt or, better, double the amount of ash compared to potassium chloride. The earth or plants are sprinkled with ash, the next day the ash must be washed off. For foliar top dressing, it is recommended to use a filtered infusion of ash (preparation was indicated above) or a solution of one tablet of micronutrient fertilizers per bucket of water. Foliar top dressing should be carried out in the phase of 6-7 leaves.

There are recommendations for sowing cucumbers in mixed beds, for example, it is good to sow dill along with cucumbers: both the land is used better and there is a pest-repellent effect. Sometimes cabbage, tomatoes, corn and even a sunflower (in the middle of the garden) are planted between cucumbers, and its stems can be used instead of a trellis. Of course, at the same time, the sowing of cucumbers should be less frequent. Sunflowers, however, "pump out" a lot of moisture from the soil, so the benefits of such sowing are not entirely clear, but it all depends, apparently, on specific conditions.

Disease control. Regarding peronosporosis has already been mentioned above. There are other diseases of cucumbers, for the prevention of which it is recommended to spray the plants with 1% Bordeaux mixture, 0.4% copper oxychloride or 0.4% polycarbide. After treatment with Bordeaux liquid, the fruits can be consumed after 5 days, after oxychloride and polycarbacide after 20 days. During fruiting, plants can be treated with infusion of garlic.

There is some experience of spraying with a solution of penicillin (sodium salt), one bottle per bucket of water. However, one gardener had a good effect, the other did not.

A good result is given by watering with an infusion of herbs to reduce the unpleasant odor of which you can add an infusion of leaves or valerian roots.

Pollination of cucumbers. Pollination of cucumber plants in greenhouses can be done independently. Pick a male flower, remove the petals from it and touch its core to the female flowers. Distinguishing male and female flowers is very simple: the female flower, from which the fruit seems to form, initially has a tiny resemblance of a cucumber at its base, while the male one does not. One male flower is enough to pollinate 2-5 female flowers. In this case, you can use several male flowers: more pollen will be on the female flowers. After pollination, one petal should be torn off the female flower to know that it has already been pollinated. If pollination was successful, then after 3-4 days the cucumber will begin to grow. The best time to pollinate is in the morning when the plants are dry. Pollen remains viable for only a few hours and becomes "sterile" at temperatures above +30 degrees. To attract bees, dilute 1-2 teaspoons of honey in water (0.5 l) and sprinkle cucumber leaves with this solution.

How to get cucumber seeds.

For growing cucumber seeds, it is better to use film shelters and apply artificial pollination. Several well-developed plants typical of the variety are selected, and on them, the day before blooming, male and female flowers are isolated with pieces of cotton wool in 3-5 nodes of the main stem. When the flowers open, the females are pollinated with 2-3 males taken from another plant of the same variety, and again isolated with cotton wool.

When the ovaries increase (after 3-4 days), the isolation is removed. With careful artificial pollination in one greenhouse, you can get seeds of several varieties.

Seed fruits are harvested when they acquire a typical color for the variety (dark yellow, brown) and reticulation. The collected fruits ripen for 5-6 days until softened, cut and take out the seeds with the pulp in a glass dish with a spoon. Fermentation lasts 3-4 days and is considered complete if clean seeds remain in the hand when squeezing the pulp. When washing, light seeds, pulp float up, they are removed. The washed seeds are dried and stored.

Growing cucumbers on the window.

It is better to use ready-made fertilizer mixtures. Cucumbers will grow provided that the room is sunny and the air temperature is not lower than 20 °. There are varieties that do not require pollination. Varieties and hybrids requiring pollination should be pollinated. The first harvest (with good care) can be obtained 55-65 days after sowing. After 35-40 days, the plants bloom. In order for the ovary to develop into a fruit, it must be pollinated with pollen from male flowers. The fruits will be straight and beautiful if the pollination is repeated. Yellowing and shedding of the undeveloped ovary indicate that it remained unpollinated. At the optimum temperature, green beans are ready to be harvested in 12-14 days. Up to 15 greens are obtained from one plant.